Sunday, July 31, 2016

Krista Marino: After the Contract; What You Can Do To Make Your Book A Success

Krista Marino

Krista Marino is an Executive Editor at Delacorte Press (Random House Children's Books) where she acquires and edits young adult and middle grade fiction. Some of the books on her list include the Maze Runner series by James Dashner, the Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson, and the Nightmares! series by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Other books she’s published include The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson, These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly, The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas, and the young adult works of Matt de la Peña. Krista is always looking for strong new voices, innovative concepts, and great stories for her list. @KristaMarino on Twitter.

Along with a robust handout and an overflow crowd (they had to bring in extra rows of chairs), Krista's session is packed with information and tips. She talks about timelines (what to do before publication and after), the importance of agents, and how being published early isn't always what's best for your book.

Some highlights...

On blurbs:

you want it on the galley or ARC, and the best way to get one is author to author.

On social media:

"the biggest part right now of putting yourself ahead of the pack."

She also shared three authors who do twitter really well: Nicola Yoon, Melissa Grey, and James Dashner.

On school visits:

And how she's seen them play such an important role in careers, like for Matt de la Pena, Chris Gravenstein and James Dashner.